Twirling in the air, Kenki is barely able to shift his body into a safe landing position, only managing to spread out like a starfish at the very final second.

His weight is distributed almost perfectly as the snow takes the majority of the fall. Nevertheless he still feels the impact of the drop, it forces the air out of his lungs and his entire body goes completely numb for a second.

And when the sensations finally return there is only pain. Be it his back, his head or limbs, everything hurts but despite it all he is still alive and he is conscious.

'Damn…' the sound of something snapping upon the moment of impact doesn't go unnoticed, but thankfully it's only the bow, not any of the boy's bones.

'Another tree. I need to find another tree… a thick tree.'

Kenki unstraps the excess baggage from his body. The quivers and linen wrap filled with arrows are the first to go, followed by several satchels filled with miscellaneous items such as a firestarter or strings.

Most of the joints in his body creak as he climbs out of the human shaped hole in the snow but he continues moving. He cannot afford to stop even if he has no idea where he's going.

The fall has disoriented him and the darkness is too thick. Kenki can't even see the arms in front of his face.

In this situation, he might as well be blind.

=============================

"..."

Zhang Dongmei quietly observes the events under her unfold, two times already has she almost intervened.

The first time when the Tower Wolf had rushed at the duo. Fortunately it had gone for the vile criminal Goro so her intervention hadn't been necessary.

The second time had been upon the destruction of the second tree, when Kenki had been about to fall into the pack. That time he'd saved himself by shifting the tree's trajectory and dropping off the Emperor damned cliff. She'd debated grabbing him midair after that stunt but ultimately refrained.

All throughout his Qi has been steadily accumulating and increasing his capabilities. In these short thirty or so seconds he'd almost achieved a breakthrough to the first stage. He's so close!

Limping out of the hole in the snow he heads off in an unexpected direction.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

'Why is he going back?'

Eyebrow raised, she watches him begin to run in the exact opposite direction he's supposed to be going…

…Until he slams head first into the rocky cliff.

'Oh. Right. No night vision.'

The boy shouts out in rage upon realizing his mistake, Qi flaring even more. He'd lost precious time and the Tower Wolf is closing in the distance fast.

He heads in the correct direction the second time around, occasionally turning his head to check on the progress of the pack. Fortunately for him, he has ample time to make it to the nearby trees, even if he can't see them.

Though Dongmei frowns once she notices where Kenki is going, directly on his path is an exceptionally large tree with a trunk so thick that five grown human beings, holding their hands together, wouldn't be able to wrap around it. Had it been a regular tree she would have just let everything play out naturally.

'This might be the final push he needs' Her frown is replaced with a smile as a borderline evil idea takes shape.

She floats in closer, taking out a sword from her storage treasure. She hides it using her invisibility technique and, charging it up with a large amount of Qi, she gets ready to strike.

Just as Kenki is within arms reach of the trunk, she slashes, cleaving the whole thing down in one go. A bright light flashes, lasting for barely a moment, and the whole thing comes crashing down.

The impact from the tree's fall causes what feels like an earthquake. Kenki has trouble staying upright, tripping and falling right into the stump.

"..."

He doesn't bother to get up. Instead, his fingers slowly trace the stump, feeling it around. He looks lifeless, the raging flame for survival seeming to have been suddenly extinguished. But the signs that Dongmei had been looking for finally appear, his Qi is compressing.

"Smoothest piece of wood I've ever touched in my life' He whispers out.

Kenki sighs and unsheaths the dagger strapped to his hip. Standing up and taking a pose Dongmei had taught him several months prior, he prepares himself for a final stand. Even if he's aware it won't do anything at least he wishes to injure the beast.

"Is this fun…?" He whispers again before all of the Qi inside him suddenly implodes. All of it gathers in a single point the size of a grain of rice.

"Is this fun you massive sack of shit!?" Kenki shouts at the top of his lungs, infusing his voice with the newly found powers.

"This whole time you've been playing with me! What am I? Nothing more than entertainment!? When you destroyed those trees, you didn't do it to get to me, you didn't do it because you had no other option! You did it because you wanted me to be scared, because you wanted me to quake in my boots! You wild fucking beast!" Energy gathers in his arms as he speaks, it passes through his palms and coalesces on the edges of the dagger.

"Hah hah hah" a creepy laugh escapes the boy's lips.

"What is this? I see it now, I have been acting in such a weird manner all the way until now? I feel like I've just kicked out some kind of a lovecraftian horror from my mind, one that has been manipulating my emotions and thinking. This new clarity! What the hell is going on!?"

The wooden handle of the dagger creaks under the pressure

"No, it doesn't matter"

Dongmei listens to Kenki's odd mutterings and ultimately decides to ignore them. 'Some newly awakened cultivators do realize that they've been manipulated by the heavens. The experience is different for everybody so it's not my place to judge what he's going through.

Her focus is on the grain-sized lump of liquid Qi inside Kenki's abdomen. His Dantian.

'The awakening has been a resounding success!' She smiles from ear to ear in happiness. Finally, someone to assist her in her endeavors. With his help things move forwards much faster.

'But first, he's gathering a dangerous amount of energy in his blade. I need to stop it before he rips his Dantian apart.'

In a split second she floods Ken's body with her own Qi, she uses her superior control over the energy to constrict the arteries pumping blood into his brain.

The action renders him instantly unconscious.

Carefully laying down his limp body on the stump, she takes out the bow from her storage treasure.

'One last problem to take care of…' Dongmei focuses on the approaching pack as she draws the bow, a glowing arrow of her own energy forming as she does.